Living the Fantasy of Gandalf

New Zealand is the backdrop for Indian photographer Akhil Suhas, 21, who spent six months touring the country documenting his 15,000km journey. Suhas featured locals and tourists dressed up as the wizard Gandalf in a series of captivating photographs.

Suhas, who gained 5000 Instagram followers after posting his images, said he wanted his pictures to stand out against the mass of stunning but similar landscape photography of New Zealand. Including Gandalf in every image gave the pictures scale and focus.

“I wanted a recurring subject in my photos. When you have so many photographers visiting the country, I figured that I needed to do something to set me apart. Then, I was watching the Lord of the Rings for the 5th time and then the idea struck,” Suhas said.

Suhas spent portions of his six-month trip with a photographer friend. But when he was travelling alone he got into the habit of asking strangers to dress up as Gandalf and pose for his photographs. Throughout the entire trip no one turned him down.

“The trick is to strike up a conversation and then explain my project and then ask them if they’d like to dress up,” he said.

“Luckily, not a single person said no as they must’ve realised that if you’re in Middle Earth, might as well live the fantasy of being Gandalf.”

Original article by Eleanor Ainge Roy, The Guardian, February 16, 2017.

Photo by Akhil Suhas.